SPONGE BLASTING APPARATUS AND SPONGE BLASTING METHOD

Abstract

The present invention provides a sponge blasting apparatus comprising: a recovering unit which sucks and recovers a blasting medium jetted out of a nozzle; a sorting unit which sorts the blasting medium sucked and recovered by the recovering unit into a reusable blasting medium and an unreusable blasting medium; a blower which gives a sucking force to the recovering unit via the sorting unit; a dust collector which removes dust from an exhaust air discharged from the sorting unit with a sucking force of the blower; a picking-apart unit which picks apart the reusable blasting medium sorted by the sorting unit; a continuous feeder which, having at least two reservoir tanks into which the reusable blasting medium picked apart by the picking-apart unit is inputted, changes over the two tanks between each other to continuously feed the nozzle with the blasting medium deposited in the tanks; and a carrier which carries to the continuous feeder the reusable blasting medium sorted by the sorting unit.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration of a sponge blasting apparatus;

FIGS. 2A to 2C illustrate the mechanism of sponge blasting;

FIG. 3 illustrates the protective clothing of the operator of sponge blasting;

FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of a self-propelled recovering device applied to the sponge blasting apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 shows a plan view of the self-propelled recovering device shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 shows a profile of the self-propelled recovering device shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 shows a longitudinal section of a picking-apart device applied to the sponge blasting apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 shows a perspective view of the blade configuration of the picking-apart device shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 illustrates the particle size distribution of abrasives in the blasting medium; and

FIG. 10 shows an overall configuration of a sponge blasting apparatus, which is another embodiment of the invention.

Claims

1. A sponge blasting apparatus which jets against a work a blasting medium of a sponge fragment formed of abrasives stuck within a porous elastic body out of a nozzle and grinds the work, comprising: a recovering unit which sucks and recovers the blasting medium jetted out of the nozzle;a sorting unit which sorts the blasting medium sucked and recovered by the recovering unit into a reusable blasting medium and an unreusable blasting medium;a blower which gives a sucking force to the recovering unit via the sorting unit;a dust collector which removes dust from an exhaust air discharged from the sorting unit with a sucking force of the blower;a picking-apart unit which picks apart the reusable blasting medium sorted by the sorting unit;a continuous feeder which, having at least two reservoir tanks into which the reusable blasting medium picked apart by the picking-apart unit is inputted, changes over the two tanks between each other to continuously feed the nozzle with the blasting medium deposited in the tanks; anda carrier which carries to the continuous feeder the reusable blasting medium sorted by the sorting unit.

2. The sponge blasting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the picking-apart unit includes:a rotary vane which picks apart by being rotated the reusable blasting medium having solidified into a lump state;a heater which heats the reusable blasting medium having solidified into a lump state in a hopper-shaped reservoir disposed upstream from the rotary vane; anda controller which drives the heater when the rotary torque of the rotary vane reaches or surpasses a certain level.

3. The sponge blasting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a particle size measuring unit which measures a particle size of the blasting medium picked apart by the picking-apart unit; anda controller which prepares a particle size distribution on the basis of particle sizes measured by the particle size measuring unit, whereinthe controller compares a threshold for judging whether a blasting medium is reusable or reusable with a peak level of the particle size distribution prepared and, when the peak level surpasses the threshold, causes a display unit to display the usable limit of the medium.

4. The sponge blasting apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: a particle size measuring unit which measures a particle size of the blasting medium picked apart by the picking-apart unit; anda controller which prepares a particle size distribution on the basis of particle sizes measured by the particle size measuring unit, whereinthe controller compares a threshold for judging whether a blasting medium is reusable or reusable with a peak level of the particle size distribution prepared and, when the peak level surpasses the threshold, causes a display unit to display the usable limit of the medium.

5. A sponge blasting method which uses the sponge blasting apparatus according to claim 2 to jet against a work a blasting medium of a sponge fragment formed of abrasives stuck within a porous elastic body out of a nozzle and to grind the work.

6. A sponge blasting method which uses the sponge blasting apparatus according to claim 3 to jet against a work a blasting medium of a sponge fragment formed of abrasives stuck within a porous elastic body out of a nozzle and to grind the work.

7. A sponge blasting method which uses the sponge blasting apparatus according to claim 4 to jet against a work a blasting medium of a sponge fragment formed of abrasives stuck within a porous elastic body out of a nozzle and to grind the work.